TRENTON — A state Superior Court judge has denied a request by former Toms River insurance executive Robert Marshall, convicted in 1986 for arranging his wife’s murder, to have his sentence of life in prison reduced to 30 years, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office said today.

Marshall, whose case spawned a best-selling book and television mini-series, was originally condemned to death but had the penalty reversed. In 2006, he was re-sentenced to life in prison with 30 years of parole ineligibility. He will be eligible for his first review in December 2014.

According to court documents, Marshall argued his sentence should be reduced because he has had no major disciplinary problems in prison and has had a "severe depreciation of his health."

Marshall, 72, said he suffers from a litany of conditions including diabetes, hypertension, dementia, vision impairment, arthritis, dental issues, insomnia and mental issues stemming from anxiety. He also said he takes at least seven different medications, court documents show.

Prosecutors argued his health was no worse than when he was re-sentenced.

On Tuesday, Judge Wendel Daniels found Marshall’s "medical condition does not rise to the level of severity to warrant release."

"Furthermore, the nature and severity of the crime for which the defendant is imprisoned, namely the murder of his wife, was taken into account," Daniels wrote in the decision.

Marshall was sentenced to death for the 1984 murder of his wife, Maria, at a rest stop on the Garden State Parkway. He spent 18 years on death row before a federal court overturned his sentence in 2004. In 2006, the prosecutor’s office chose not to seek the death penalty again.

Marshall’s conviction and sentence arguably represented the most exhaustively challenged death penalty case in New Jersey since the Legislature reinstated capital punishment in 1982. The death penalty was repealed 25 years later, in 2007, by former Gov. Jon Corzine.